From fracking to blueberries, Higgs government has a week of mixed messages
Ministers forced to explain, clarify and backtrack on a range of difficult issues
Especially when their normally ubiquitous leader and chief spokesperson, Premier Blaine Higgs, was away in Europe, hustling for hydrogen.
Back at the legislature, ministers found themselves explaining, clarifying and backtracking on issues ranging from shale gas to education to blueberries.
"Maybe sometimes people say things because they're in the heat of the moment or they see this opportunity and it really excites them," Aboriginal Affairs Minister Arlene Dunn said of comments Higgs made about shale gas.
Agriculture,
Aquaculture, and Fisheries Minister Margaret Johnson denied she was
clashing with a cabinet colleague over blueberries. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Agriculture, Aquaculture, and Fisheries Minister Margaret Johnson — in her first legislature scrum with reporters after more than two years in the job — had to explain that she was not clashing with a cabinet colleague, Natural Resources Minister Mike Holland, over blueberries.
"The media and people are really keen to make it look like Minister Holland and I are at odds with each other," she said. "In fact quite the opposite is true."
Dunn was responding to anger from First Nations chiefs after Higgs suggested he might go ahead with natural gas development without their consent.
"I want First Nations to be part of this, but there comes a time when you've just gotta find a way to move on, if I can't have any meaningful discussions to make it happen," he told the business news website allNewBrunswick.
Higgs sees a provincial gas industry as something that could open up export markets in Europe and has pitched chiefs on a partnership that could be worth $1.6 billion.
The chiefs have spurned the idea, leading Higgs to declare "we've gotta get on with it."
Aboriginal
Affairs Minister Arlene Dunn said the premier shares her understanding
of the duty to consult First Nations over any natural gas developments. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
In question period and with journalists, Dunn promised several times that there will be "meaningful discussion" with First Nations and acknowledged it would be "very difficult" for a gas industry to develop without Indigenous consent.
For one thing, private-sector gas companies are reluctant to invest in a jurisdiction with "any sort of turmoil" that might impede development, she said.
"I would not say that we would proceed if they didn't agree. … That could certainly be a potential for sure, but let's hope that that doesn't happen."
Dunn had to square that reality with Higgs's comments about moving ahead.
"I'm not going to stand here and defend anything the premier has said without me being present to hear what's actually been talked about," she said. "There's a consultation process in place. … We will be adhering to the law and our constitutional obligations."
Dunn said Higgs "absolutely" shares her understanding of the duty to consult, a requirement set out repeatedly by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Opposition parties were not convinced.
"It certainly seems from the premier's comments and from minister Dunn's comments that they are in two different places," said Opposition Liberal Leader Susan Holt.
Green
Party MLA Kevin Arseneau said he believes the premier and the
aboriginal affairs minister hold different points of view on fracking
and the duty to consult. (Radio-Canada)
Green MLA Kevin Arseneau said "there's a friction, a different point of view, absolutely," between the premier and his minister.
Dunn made a point of telling the legislature that "I am the minister responsible for the file," but said she was looking forward to Higgs elaborating on his comments.
"We're going to have to leave that to the premier when he gets back, to have an explanation in terms of the context of his meeting and what was occurring over there."
Higgs himself issued a statement from overseas Friday afternoon, saying he didn't mean to suggest his government "would operate outside the duty to consult obligation. … We understand the importance of that process and it will be followed."
Dunn wasn't alone having to clarify and contextualize as the legislative week wound down.
Education
Minister Bill Hogan explained an offhand comment he made on sexual
orientation and gender identity that provoked criticism on social media. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
Education and Early Childhood Minister Bill Hogan told reporters that his department would "fix" legislation that he had introduced just three days before.
The 111-page bill was promoted as an overhaul of the district education council governance structure.
But supporters of the province's inclusion policy, which says all students have the right to be in regular classrooms regardless of their developmental challenges, found language in the bill that appeared to weaken those guarantees.
Hogan agreed that the sections "may have an adverse effect on inclusion, and we're going to fix that."
"I can't explain how the mistakes happened. I'm currently looking into that. I'm not very happy about it."
Hogan also explained an offhand comment he made on sexual orientation and gender identity that provoked criticism on social media.
Defending a review of the gender identity policy for schools in Thursday's question period, the minister said "when I look around here, I am not seeing a whole lot of people who look like me, so we are going to respect diversity in our schools and in our society."
He said Friday that what he meant was that people should not assume based on someone's appearance what someone's sexual orientation or gender identification is.
"It wasn't a joke" Hogan said. "In retrospect it was a poorly worded comment on my part."
Natural
Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland said he had
identified some land that might provide a solution to an angry dispute
near Tracadie over blueberries, but hadn't heard back from his
colleague, the agriculture minister. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
The blueberry issue had the makings of a spat between ministers, though Johnson explained — at length — that it was Mother Nature who was offside.
Holland told Radio-Canada earlier in the week that he had identified some land that might provide a solution to an angry dispute near Tracadie.
Some local residents have resisted the province's push to develop the blueberry sector on an 18,000-hectare parcel of land that used to be a federal military firing range.
Holland said he'd forwarded the information on alternate sites to Johnson's department weeks before, but had not had any response.
"Speak to Minister Johnson," Holland said. "Am I expected to walk over into that department and make sure they do something with it? I don't think so."
Johnson said there was no disagreement between the two ministers, just a delay in assessing whether the soil was suitable for blueberries due to the weather.
"Here's the fact of the matter: it's spring and there's still snow in the woods," she said. "That's what we've been waiting on."
If the Tories suffered through a week of bumpy messaging and less-than-clear policy initiatives, they may have found at least one way to turn the tables on the Liberals.
On Friday, Holland introduced a motion in the legislature to have the chamber endorse the continued development of — and government support for — small modular nuclear reactors.
Such motions are non-binding and symbolic and are usually introduced by opposition parties, not governments.
Liberal
Leader Susan Holt said her party has not yet decided if small modular
nuclear reactors are the answer to the province's energy needs. (Aidan Cox/CBC)
The Liberals supported SMRs when they were last in government, handing $10 million to two companies working on reactor designs.
Holt herself worked for that government.
But when she became leader last August, she said she was "not sure it's the solution for electricity generation for our province. … I think it's not clear yet if it will really give us energy in a way that's responsible and efficient with our investments."
When Holland's motion comes up for debate, it will force her and her party to take a clear position.
On Friday she said she didn't know yet what that will be.
"I'll have to read it and talk to the party about it," she said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
He seems to have neglected to mention that Premier Higgs is in Europe doing what most (other than one) Canadian PM's would/should be doing; specifically, to promote and explore possible export opportunities for our natural resources.
Our royalties are a joke and it gets worst when you add subsidizes.
Giving million $ gifts to the Empire at the taxpayers/ rate payers expense>
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